German agency says car coolant ‘poses no risk’

An air-conditioning coolant designed to replace a substance that has been banned in the European Union poses no risk to passengers, according to a report sent by Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority to the European Commission.

German car company Daimler has refused to use the new refrigerant, HFO-1234yf, saying that it was catching fire in tests.

Germany has continued to authorise Daimler’s use of the old coolant, R134a, even though it has been banned in the EU since January because of its impact on the environment.

The European Commission has criticised Germany for allowing Daimler to use the banned substance, and last month France banned the sale of new Mercedes cars. The Commission has stood by the French decision.

Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) tested HFO-1234yf using three levels of severity, and found that it “produced no adequate evidence of a serious risk”. It said that the new substance was more hazardous than R134a, but said that passengers were not at risk. A more comprehensive report will be sent the Commission in September.

“This confirms DuPont’s high level of confidence that the refrigerant can be used safely in automotive air-conditioning,” said Joseph Martinko of DuPont Opteon products, which makes the new coolant. “This has been proven by years of co-operative testing conducted by automakers from around the world.”

Honeywell, which also makes the new coolant, welcomed the findings. "KBA’s results are not surprising because automobile manufacturers routinely incorporate materials that are far more highly flammable than HFO-1234yf into their vehicle designs, including motor oil, automotive transmission fluid, radiator antifreeze, brake fluid, and compressor lubricant – not to mention fuel," the company said in a statement.

However Daimler said in a statement that the fact that the KBA report did identify the new substance as being more hazardous justifies their decision not to use it.

"Even the German Federal Motor Transport Authority considers the safety level of vehicles worsened by the use of R1234yf compared to the previous refrigerant R134a," Daimler said. "For the purposes of our customers’ safety we stick to the decision to develop and to introduce CO2-based air conditioning systems for series-production vehicles as soon as possible."